2019 Lincoln Navigator Best Buy Review

IT’S A BEST BUY BECAUSE:

The Lincoln Navigator offers a cavernous, lavishly finished interior; a muscular turbocharged engine; a long list of coddling available features; and wonderfully polished road manners for a full-size luxury SUV.

BUT…

WORTH NOTING:

Like its Cadillac Escalade and Range Rover rivals, the Navigator comes in two body lengths—the extended-length Navigator L is about nine inches longer in wheelbase and almost a foot longer overall than the regular-length version.

WHAT IS IT?

The Navigator is Lincoln’s flagship full-size SUV; it offers seating for up to eight people and can tow up to 8700 pounds. The Navigator’s basic underbody architecture is shared with the Ford Expedition, but the Lincoln boasts distinctive upscale styling and an especially luxurious cabin with several exclusive features. Trim levels ascend through Premiere, Select, Reserve, and ultra-luxury Black Label models in regular and extended-length “L” body styles.

The sole powertrain is a turbocharged 3.5-liter Ecoboost V6 that makes 450 horsepower and is paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission. Rear-wheel drive or 4-wheel-drive is available on Premiere and Select models; the Reserve and Black Label are offered only with 4WD.

WHAT’S NEW?

After its complete redesign for 2018, the Navigator sees no major changes for 2019. The Lincoln Co-Pilot360 suite of safety features is standard on all trim levels, and base prices are higher across the model lineup.

FUEL ECONOMY

The Navigator is rated at 16 mpg city/23 mpg highway with 2WD and 16/21 with 4WD. The Navigator L is rated at 16/22 with 2WD and 16/21 with 4WD. In Consumer Guide® testing, a regular-length Reserve 4×4 averaged 15.8 mpg in 60-percent city driving.

VALUE IN CLASS

In many ways, the Premium Large SUV class is the most decadent of all the categories we cover. These vehicles are extra-spacious, extra-powerful, extra-luxurious, and extra-capable, but also extra-hard-to-park and extra-thirsty at the fuel pump. The Lincoln Navigator doesn’t fully transcend the inherent downsides of an extra-large luxury SUV, but it nonetheless offers outstanding opulence, passenger and cargo room, power, and driving dynamics for its class.